2019 Goals + Chit Chat

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Happy Thursday Guys! Today I wanted to just chat a bit about what to expect in 2019 here and a few of my personal goals. It has been awhile since I have just sat here and talked about personal anything and to be honest it has not always been the easiest thing for me. It kinda makes me laugh because I am totally a wear your heart on your sleeve type of gal. You would think I would be sharing TOO much on this little piece of the internet, but that is definitely is not the case.

That will change in 2019. While I have not shared a whole lot, I have had the urge to do so. What is stopping me you may ask, well myself. Yeah I have been worried about judgey eyes, what people may think, but in the big scheme of things, that should not hold me back. I plan to share more of everyday life on instagram stories and on the blog. It will be little things as just taking my sunglasses off. It is so funny how I let that become a habit. I mean honestly, I love a good pair of sunnies, but I can totally see how it became odd that I ALWAYS wore them haha. I will pick up my phone more and just talk to you guys on stories. I want to get to know you guys more as you get to know me a little more!

In 2018 I got to travel more than I ever have and it has opened my eyes to so many things, the good and the bad. Being a blogger, it is really hard to shut off your job. My brain is always focused on creating content and capturing the beautiful places we visit. I have mentioned before, but this can take away from actually ENJOYING the destinations. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE what I do and traveling has made me fall eve more in love with it. I have been blogging for YEARS and you can easily fall into a rut, but travel has opened up a new creative side in me that I can’t wait to expand on. There were plenty of times on trips that I regret not taking in what was around me. I do not live with regrets, but I definitely want to learn from my personal mistakes. It is hard for me to say that I have never really taken a true vacation since treating blogging as my job, because if it was not for blogging, I would not be able to travel to these amazing places. I may be spending hours and hours a day capturing content, but I am still at a beautiful place and I choose this line of work. To me it is more about finding a balance. There needs to be times that I am “on” for work and “off” for my family. We approached a few trips later in the year a bit differently which helped make the work/life balance much easier! I am VERY organized when it comes to traveling and I plan to dive a bit deeper into how I plan trips as a blogger in 2019!

Olivia

My how she has grown this past year. When I was working on my year in review post, I was in tears to see how much she has physically grown too. Taking her on trips with me this past year has brought me SO much joy. She is such a great traveler and seeing places thru her eyes is my favorite thing in the world. If you ask her what her favorite places to travel to, she always answers New York City, Dallas and of course Disney. It cracks me up how much she loves Dallas, but she LOVES meeting my blogging friends and Dallas is where a lot of them live. What I am most proud of though with Olivia is that she has such a big loving heart. She makes it a point to talk to everyone, gives meaningful compliments and she is such a happy little person. Do not get me wrong, she has her moments. Every trip the girl has at least one melt down. While she acts much older than she is, she is still a toddler. Trips with her look much different from the ones with just Drew or my girlfriends. We made the mistake early on with moving too fast for Olivia. We quickly made changes to that and it definitely made life easier on everyone haha. I would 100% not change a thing though. Making these mistakes has only made me stronger as a mother and it has taught me to give grace not only to myself, but others. Being a mom is the hardest job in the book. There are so many unknowns and at times you can feel completely lost. The biggest piece of advice I have when being a mom is to always trust your gut, give yourself grace, and shower your child with love. When a child feels loved and protected, their attitude and actions will reflect that. I have gotten a lot of questions about if we will be expanding our family too. We would absolutely love to have another little one. I mentioned on here before that I did develop a thyroid issue after having Olivia which can impact conceiving. I will be getting a bit more testing done on that and we will take it from there. If it is not in God’s plan for us to have another one, that is ok. Olivia is the greatest thing that has happened to us and we are so thankful for her.

Relationships

Having a job that never shuts off can quickly effect relationships. Drew and I have been together for over 15 years. We have been thru so many REALLY tough things (read about Drew’s scare here) and came out stronger and it drives me crazy that the little things are what causes the biggest arguments. Marriage is something you have to work at on a daily basis. Both partners have to be willing to work on themselves and as a team to make it better. It is easy to get into a rut with your Marriage, and you have to remind yourself to date your spouse again. I am totally guilty of letting my work get in the way of our time together and that will change in 2019. Of course there will be mistakes, but Drew and I will be approaching our hefty goals in 2019 as a team and reaching them together.

I am so very thankful for my friendships I have thru blogging. I have made plenty of mistakes of who I let close over the years and it has only taught me the importance of a community. Of course I am not perfect and have made mistakes in past relationships. I talk to my close friends I have made thru blogging daily. We do not just talk about our jobs, we talk about our every day lives, trials and more. We are there for each other, we support each other, and we root each other on. This industry can bring out the ugly side in a lot of women. I have seen it too many times to count and it just makes me want to be more supportive. Of course we are all human and things will bother us, but taking the high road, and just flat-out being NICE will get you further in the long run. Find your crew that is clapping for your when you succeed and rid the ones that are silent in the back. Your friends should bring out the best in you! Life is too short for bad relationships. In 2019 I want to nurture my close friendships. I plan to pick up the phone and call them (I thank my friend Riane for always doing this and inspiring me.) Getting in the car and traveling to see my friends more just because and not just for work! My close friends in town, I want to have more get togethers monthly and not every 3 months! It is the year to make time for your loved ones because work will be there when you get back to it.

2019 Goals

Personal

For me personally I want to get back into my regular workout schedule. I fell out of sync with all the traveling and that is something that i REALLY miss. Working out makes me a better person to be around. But for real, ask my husband haha. I have been an active person since I was a young child and when I lose that, I am just not as productive overall. I worked out here and there, even did BBG for 12 weeks, but I want to me consistent and more diligent with it in 2019. I also want to cook with more whole foods for my family. We are VERY lucky that Olivia eats so well. She will try everything at least once, and eats a lot of fruits and veggies. Drew and I have been pretty terrible about eating out a lot lately. This also made me so sluggish this past couple of months and I miss our at home healthy meals. I will also be sharing these meals with YOU! Every time I posted food on my stories in 2018, DMs came flooding in. I have always loved to cook, so I will putting more time into this in 2019.

Professional

For my blog, you will see some changes from the norm. For starters, more of this! More of me just rambling, talking about life and my struggles. I never want to come across as someone who is ALWAYS put together. I go thru trials and tribulations just like you. While I have not typically shared them and will never be a 100% transparent blogger, I am going to start sharing more!

A couple other things you guys have asked for is more home decor, tutorials, amazon hauls, and day-to-day outfits. I will always have the passion to put together unique outfits, and that will never change. I will however be sharing more of my day-to-day style too. Travel wise, we are finalizing some upcoming travel and deciding how we want to approach it in 2019. While I loved always being on the go in 2018, I want to slow down a bit more at each destination and even travel abroad this year. Olivia starts kindergarten this year so want to make the most out of this summer!

Ok, longest post EVER! Thanks for hanging in there and see you guys back here tomorrow! xoxo Tara

This was my favorite blog post yet!!! I appreciate you being open and relatable! As a mom and blogger I struggle to find a place to relate to others in the job field! Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to read more!!